Faerin Gobennas
by LegolasLover2003
Summary: Legolas wants to learn what REALLY happened during the Last Alliance. After reading a different account than he learned, he sets out to the Dead Marshes with Aragorn & Legede, but something waits in the swamps that none of them had ever anticipated.
1. PROLOGUE

**Title:** _ "Faerin Gobennas"_

**Author: **LegolasLover2003 aka Ashley

**Category: ** Book -_ "Lord of the Rings"_

**Genre: **Angst/Adventure

**Rating:** T

**Disclaimer: ** I do not own any rights to_ "The Lord of the Rings"_. I just adore it to pieces! Legede is a character of my own invention however. You may use him, but please ask permission to do so first.

**NOTE:** THIS IS ONLY THE PROLOGUE! There is more story to come, I promise. For more information and notes... check at the end of the story.

* * *

**The 6th of the 30th of Summer of 2980 of the 3rd Age of Middle-earth**

Engui en Nelchaenui ne Laer ne Tâd Neder Tolgaen en Nelui Andrann  
_(The Sixth of the Thirtieth of Summer of Two Nine Eighty of the Third Age of Middle-earth)_

* * *

_Despite the desire of the Silvan Elves to meddle as little as might be in the affairs of the Noldor and Sindar, or of any other peoples, Dwarves, Men, or Orcs, Oropher had the wisdom to foresee that peace would not return unless Sauron was overcome. He therefore assembled a great army of his now numerous people, and joining with the lesser army of Malgalad of Lorien he led the host of the Silvan Elves to battle. The Silvan Elves were hardy and valiant, but ill-equipped with armour or weapons in comparison with the Eldar of the West; also they were independent, and not disposed to place themselves under the supreme command of Gil-galad. Their losses were thus more grievous than they need have been, even in that terrible war. Malgalad and more than half his following perished in the great battle of the Dagorlad, being cut off from the main host and driven into the Dead Marshes. Oropher was slain in the first assault upon Mordor, rushing forward at the head of his most doughty warriors before Gil-galad had given the signal for the advance. Thranduil his son survived, but when the war ended and Sauron was slain (as it seemed) he led back home barely a third of the army that had marched to war._

_

* * *

  
_

Sighing, Legolas set the leather bound book down on a side table. The Elf's blue gaze was fixed on the numerous bookcases which held countless volumes of literature and lore from all over Middle-earth.

But this most recent edition had him a bit troubled, truth be told.

"Something bothering you, Legolas?"

A slight smile graced the prince's lips, but he did not turn his gaze from the library shelves. "Actually, Legede… something is." He paused, before turning in his chair to face the white haired Elf at his side. "Ada received this book as a gift from Elrond, correct?"

Nodding, Legede took a set in the chair beside the prince. "Aye. Lord Elrond assured your father that it was newly penned by one of Lothlorien's best historians. It was written for the purpose of being housed in your father's library, Legolas."

Legolas seemed to consider this for a few moments, before sighing again and shaking his head. "But what is written here… is not what is written in our own texts, Legede."

Caught off guard by this, the elder Elf rose one slender white eyebrow at the statement. "Legolas, surely you understand that… well… sometimes history gets a bit slanted by the statements of those who are tasked to record them."

"How so?" the prince asked, blue gaze fixed on the Captain of Mirkwood's Guard.

"Well…" Legede began, thinking over the matter for a moment. "What portion is it that you are finding fault with?"

Brightening a bit, Legolas picked up the book once more. He flipped through the newly bound pages until he found the last passage which he had read. "Here." The prince spoke, handing the book over to his friend.

Legede took the leather in his hands, reading over the lines in perfectly scripted Sindarin. After a few moments, the Elf frowned and glanced up at Legolas. "Let me guess… 'The Silvan Elves were hardy and valiant, but ill-equipped with armour or weapons in comparison with the Eldar of the West; also they were independent, and not disposed to place themselves under the supreme command of Gil-galad.' is the passage in question?"

Legolas nodded, "When I was little, father would tell me stories about the war. Obviously he tried to keep out the more harsh aspects… but he told me them nevertheless. He made it a point, Legede… of making it seem as if we had no fault." The prince sighed, running a hand through his long blond hair in frustration. "But it even said that my grandfather basically charged into battle before the call to arms. Father never told me such a thing. Our books of history never said such a thing either." Blue eyes narrowed as his gaze leveled with that of the Captain. "Legede… what did happen? You were there. I know you were. Please…"

With a snap, Legede closed the book and handed it back to the prince. "There are some things I would rather not discuss in regards to the war, Legolas. You of all people should know that."

"I need answers, Legede." The prince replied, setting the book down on the side table once more. "Were we so ill-equipped as this book says? Were we unready for this battle? Did our warriors die in vain?"

"Enough!"

Legolas jumped slightly, and even Legede seemed a bit startled to see the Elvenking himself standing in the doorway to the library.

Standing, Legede bowed to his sovereign. Legolas stood as well, turning to his father as if to ask the Lord of Mirkwood himself.

"This book of Elrond's is a waste. See that it is gotten rid of, Legede." Thranduil spoke, leveling both Elves with a rather dark and angry gaze, before continuing his way down the hall.

Breathing a slight sigh of relief, Legolas turned back to the elder Elf, only to see the Captain take the book in hand.

"Legede!"

"I am sorry, Legolas. However, your father has instructed this book destroyed. I will see to it."

Legolas shook his head, reaching out and grabbing Legede by the wrist. "Father said it needed to be 'gotten rid of'." The prince reasoned. "Let me get rid of it. I promise. It will never grace this kingdom again."

With a sigh, Legede conceded, handing the book over to the prince. "And what will you do with it?"

Legolas smiled, "Give it as a present to Estel, of course."

* * *

**FAERIN GOBENNAS  
**

**_Ghosts of History_**

* * *

**SINDARIN TRANSLATIONS:**

Engui en Nelchaenui ne Laer ne Tâd Neder Tolgaen en Nelui Andrann o Ennor_._ = _The Sixth of the Thirtieth of Summer of Two Nine Eighty of the Third Age of Middle-earth.  
_Ada = _Father  
_Faerin Gobennas = _Ghosts of History_

_

* * *

  
_

**TRANSLATION NOTES:**

- Faer (or Fae) meaning "Spirit" was changed to Faerin to make "Spirit" into "Spirits". Faerin was changed to the plural using the Defective Singulars rule for plurals found in David Salo's book (see Texts Used below for more). Ael (pool) follows this same rule. It goes from Ael (pool) to Aelin (pools). Ael was the only word I could find an example of that had the "ae" combination, ending and beginning with a consonant, and without any other vowels in the word, which is why I used it as a model.  
- For lack of a better word, I traded Spirit with Ghost to mean basically the same thing.

* * *

**DATES & NUMBERS NOTES:**

All of the Information in this section was collected from David Salo's book and the Appendices of The Lord of the Rings.

_SINDARIN DATE: 29__th__ of June / 36__th__ of Laer_

The date for Midsummer (on our calendar) is June 21st. For the Sindarin calendar however, it appears to be on June 29th. What I did to get the date from the Sindarin calendar, was thus…  
Half of Rhîw (Winter) is 36 days (Rhîw is 72 days long). Half of Rhîw would start on January 1st of our calendar. After 36 days, (on our calendar) we're at February 5th.  
Echuir (Stirring) is 54 days long. After 54 days (on our calendar) we're at March 31st.  
Ethuil (Spring) is 54 days long. After 54 days (on our calendar) we're at May 24th.  
Laer (Summer) is 72 days long. Midsummer is the middle of summer, so half of Laer would be 36 days. After 36 days (on our calendar) we're at June 29th, thus putting the Sindarin Midsummer on our calendar date of June 29th, and thus making the Sindarin Midsummer date of… the 36th of Laer.

_NUMBERS: 36__th_

Nelchaen seems to mean "30". Neledh means "3" and thus the rest can be seen to be the attached "10" portion (though it doesn't mean "10").  
Nelui seems to mean "3rd" (or Nail), and so the 'lui' ending can be seen to be the attached "rd" portion.  
Thus, to get 30th, I merged the two into one word of "Nelchaenui" to mean "30th".  
Eneg seems to mean 6.  
Engui seems to mean 6th (or Enecthui).  
So, to get 36th, I put the two numbers together in the fashion of forming…  
Engui en Nelchaenui = The 6th of the 30th.  
I went even further than that in setting up the date by structuring it in such as way as…  
Engui en Nelchaenui ne Laer ne Tâd Neder Tolgaen en Nelui Andrann.  
The above sentence would read (from my understanding)…  
The Sixth of the Thirtieth of Summer of Two Nine Eighty of the Third Age.  
The 6th of the 30th of Summer of 2980 of the 3rd Age.

* * *

**GENERAL NOTES:**

- This was JUST a prologue. The story will be about 3 or 4 chapters in length, I think. It was originally going to be for the June "Teitho" contest but I did not finish it in time. I have part of the next chapter already finished, but felt that breaking it up into dates would be fun!  
- All Sindarin script in my original draft (which will not appear when read online on FF dot Net) was typed up with the help of the TengScribe program, and a Mode that I input from notes out of David Salo's book and Ruth S. Noel's book (see Texts Used below for more).  
- The dates and numbers and such could very well be wrong. I don't claim to know any more than what I've looked up in my books (see Texts Used below for more). So don't kill me if something's off, whether in the numbers and dates or in my use of spoken Sindarin as a whole.  
- Italicized portion at the beginning of this story was from page 270-271 of _"The Unfinished Tales" _(see Texts Used below for more). This was the portion meant to have come from the book which Elrond gifted to Thranduil (and that Legolas was reading).  
- Legede is an Original Character and he belongs to me. You can use him if you want to in a story, but you have to get my permission first. Thanks!

* * *

**TEXTS USED:**

Noel, Ruth S. The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-earth: A Complete Guide to All Fourteen of the Languages Tolkien Invented. 1980. ISBN: 0-395-29130-5.  
Salo, David. A Gateway to Sindarin: A Grammar of An Elvish Language from J.R.'s _Lord of the Rings._ 2004. ISBN: 0-87480-800-6.  
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings. 1994. ISBN: 0-618-26025-0.  
Tolkien, J.R.R. Unfinished Tales: The Lost Lore of Middle-earth. 1980. ISBN: 0-345-35711-6.

* * *

**PROGRAMS USED:** (All can be found online)

_Dragonflame  
_Level 2.0  
Copyright 2002-2003 Benjamin Babut & Didier Willis

_Tengscribe  
_Tecindo Tengwaiva – The Tengwar Scribe  
Version 1.1.0  
Copyrith 1998-1999 Måns Björkman

_Sindarin Font  
_Typeface Name: Tengwar Sindarin  
File Size: 53 KB  
Copyright 1998 Daniel Steven Smith


	2. CHAPTER I

* * *

**Title:** _ "Faerin Gobennas"_

**Author: **LegolasLover2003 aka Ashley

**Category: ** Book -_ "Lord of the Rings"_

**Genre: **Angst/Adventure

**Rating:** T

**Disclaimer: ** I do not own any rights to_ "The Lord of the Rings"_. I just adore it to pieces! Legede is a character of my own invention however. You may use him, but please ask permission to do so first.

**NOTE:** For more information and notes... check at the end of the story.

* * *

**Faerin Gobennas**

**

* * *

  
**

**CHAPTER I**

* * *

The 50th of Summer of 2980 of the 3rd Age of Middle-earth  
_(Lebemmaenui ne Laer ne Tâd Neder Tolgaen en Nelui Andrann)_

* * *

"It will be Iavas soon." Legolas spoke, his blue gaze focused on the leaves which had begun to turn a beautiful golden color.

Legede smiled slightly, "Iavas and firith have always been more beautiful here in Imladris, than in Mirkwood." The elder Elf pointed out in turn.

A soft wind was blowing through the valley as the two made their way down along the shores of the Ford of Bruinen. Since Legolas had been in no great hurry to arrive at the Elven sanctuary, they had decided that sticking close to the river would prove an easier going for their horses than sticking to the steep terrain once they had crossed the mountains. With their trip being particularly dry after they had left the forests, the Ford was perhaps a bit lower than usual, making for an even easier walk for the horses.

"Do you really intend to give Estel that book?" Legede asked, glancing to the Elf at his side.

Laughing, Legolas nodded. "Of course! Does it seem so strange? I just have to make sure Estel does not let Lord Elrond know really… I mean, I am technically returning a rather expensive gift."

"But one, I think, gifted to try and break your father's stubborn streak." The captain added, a smirk evident in his expression.

Yes… Legede knew just how stubborn Thranduil could be on the subject of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men.

Then again… the Mirkwood Captain was hardly any more level headed about it than the Elvenking.

"Besides," the prince continued. "This gave me a reason to travel to Imladris in the first place. Estel sent me a letter not long ago, saying that he had returned home at the end of Echuir… and it has been twenty-three years since I saw him last."

Legede laughed softly, "That is hardly much time, Legolas."

"I know that…" the young Elf replied with a frown. "But he IS mortal after all and… well… since I met him, I have hardly gone more than a few years at a time without seeing him…"

The white haired Elf at the prince's side smiled softly. "Perhaps I understand better than you think I would. He is a trusted and important friend… naturally, you would want to spend time with him."

Having gotten that out of the way, the prince sighed softly. After a time, he let his blue eyes drift up to the tree canopy that stretched over the side banks of the ford.

"I really do not understand it at all." The younger Elf confided, returning to the original topic at hand. "Both you and father are loathe to speak of it, but when either of you do… well, what I end up gleaning is nothing more than the root of our kin's distrusting nature. Then I manage to find the only book in our entire library that sheds a bit of light on the subject… and father immediately wants it destroyed."

"I would say it was for your own good, Legolas… but that would be a very blatant lie." The captain replied with a slight frown. "Think of it this way," he continued, ducking beneath a particularly low-hanging collection of branches. "According to all annals of history, the Elves of Mirkwood lost their end of the battle. In truth, that would be enough for anyone to know. You however, are far more inquisitive than the generic, 'anyone' and therefore want to know exactly what transpired. While I can give you my own account… that account will probably be slanted in Mirkwood's favor, the same as your father's account." Legede's blue gaze focused on the prince at his side. "However, Elves of Imladris and Lothlorien would have a different account in respect to details. No one person's experience can be the full truth, Legolas… because no one person is completely unbiased."

The prince seemed to consider this for a long time, a slight frown on his fair face as their horses continued to pick their way through the sandy shores of the river.

After a time, Legolas spoke up once again. "Can this be said of other races as well?"

"Of course." The captain replied. "And if you are going where I think you are with this, then stop right there. It is one thing to debate the truth between Elven kin… it is something else entirely to do so between our people… and Dwarves."

* * *

"Do you think he will notice?"

"Of course not."

"But he has gotten sharper since we saw him last."

"That is true… he is far harder to trick than before."

"Perhaps we need to adjust our strategy?"

"I think catching him unawares would be easier."

"If you had not noticed, Ro… he has hardly been 'unaware' since he arrived."

"Good point…"

"What about if we…"

Grey eyes opened, already narrowed and with a gleam of frustration in their depths. Said eyes were focused on the source of his waking… on the source of the noise…

Two Rivendell Elves.

Twins.

"Could you two kindly get out of my room?" Aragorn asked, glaring at his brothers. "The sun is not even up yet."

Elrohir smiled, sitting cross-legged on the foot of the bed. "That is hardly true! See," he pointed out the balcony doors, "You can just see the rays peaking over the mountains now!"

"Besides, you have only just returned, Estel. We want to spend the day with you." Elladan added, standing behind his twin.

"You want to spend the day trying to torment me." The human replied, pulling the down-filled comforter up to his shoulders and rolling over in an attempt to ignore the two.

Before Aragorn could close his eyes again however, Elrohir was jerking the blankets back down. "No. We want to go hunting with you! You have been home for two days and have hardly done anything except sit about the house."

Sighing, the man sat up and pushed long dark hair back from his eyes as he frowned. "I spent the last twenty-three years in two separate kingdoms. Those years were hardly peaceful, and I would like to enjoy myself here for a few days before having to pick up sword or bow again."

Both Elves frowned, the younger sighing and looking up at his elder brother. "What fun could we possibly have now?" Elrohir asked in mock sadness.

"I am sure the two of you can find someone else to torment." Aragorn added before snatching his blankets back from his brother and laying down again. "As for me, I am trying to get some sleep."

Now discouraged, Elrohir was picking himself up off the bed while Elladan stood near the balcony windows. Looking out, the elder son of Elrond smirked and turned said smirk on the human still in bed.

"I think you will change your mind about sleeping soon enough."

Elrohir arched an eyebrow and came to stand beside his twin. Soon, he was smirking just the same and looking back at Aragorn.

"Estel, you may want to…"

"Unless it is a horde of Orcs, Goblins, or Trolls trying to attack Rivendell… kindly let me sleep." Estel replied, pulling a pillow over his head to try and drown out his brothers.

Elladan shrugged, "Fine… then we will spend the day with our guest instead."

"Guest?" came a muffled voice from beneath the pillowcase.

Still smirking, Elrohir pulled the pillow off of Aragorn's head and laughed. "Looks like someone else wants to spend the day with you, muindor."

Obviously confused, Estel sighed and got out of bed. The floor was a bit chilly for so early in the morning, but the man hardly minded.

Especially since he figured this all some sort of trick just to get him up.

But seeing the two Elves who were riding through the gates just then gave Aragorn more than enough reason to get out of bed.

"Legolas?"

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

**

* * *

  
**

**SINDARIN TRANSLATIONS:**

Faerin Gobennas = _Ghosts of History  
_Lebemmaenui ne Laer ne Tâd Neder Tolgaen en Nelui Andrann. = _The Fiftieth of Summer of Two Nine Eighty of the Third Age of Middle-earth.  
_Iavas = _Fall / Autumn  
_Firith = _Fading  
_Echuir = _Stirring  
_Muindor = _Brother_

_

* * *

_

**TRANSLATION NOTES:**

- Faer (or Fae) meaning "Spirit" was changed to Faerin to make "Spirit" into "Spirits". Faerin was changed to the plural using the Defective Singulars rule for plurals found in David Salo's book (see Texts Used below for more). Ael (pool) follows this same rule. It goes from Ael (pool) to Aelin (pools). Ael was the only word I could find an example of that had the "ae" combination, ending and beginning with a consonant, and without any other vowels in the word, which is why I used it as a model.

- For lack of a better word, I traded Spirit with Ghost to mean basically the same thing.

- "Fading" (Firith) comes between Autumn and Winter, just as "Stirring" (Echuir) comes between Winter and Spring. Sindarin Elves (all Elves really) have six seasons instead of only four.

* * *

**DATES & NUMBERS NOTES:**

All of the Information in this section was collected from David Salo's book and the Appendices of The Lord of the Rings.

_SINDARIN DATE: 13__th__ of July / 50__th__ of Laer_

The date which I had Legolas and Aragorn both end up in Rivendell for is three weeks after the first given date (for June 21st) and would fall (on our calendar) on July 13th.  
What I did to get the date from the Sindarin calendar, was thus…  
Half of Rhîw (Winter) is 36 days (Rhîw is 72 days long). Half of Rhîw would start on January 1st of our calendar. After 36 days, (on our calendar) we're at February 5th.  
Echuir (Stirring) is 54 days long. After 54 days (on our calendar) we're at March 31st.  
Ethuil (Spring) is 54 days long. After 54 days (on our calendar) we're at May 24th.  
Laer (Summer) is 72 days long. After 50 days (on our calendar) we're at July 13th… the 50th of Laer.

_NUMBERS: 50__th_

Lebemmae seems to mean "50". Leben means "5" (or Iheben in Noldorin) and thus the the rest can be seen to be the attached "10" portion (though it doesn't mean "10").  
Lefnui seems to mean "5th", and so the 'fnui' ending can be seen to be the attached "th" portion.  
Thus, to get 50th, I merged the two into one word of "Lebemmaenui" to mean "50th" (I omitted the "f" because that seemed to be a mutation of the "b" in Lebemmae).  
Thus you get …  
Lebemmaenui = The 50th  
I went even further than that in setting up the date by structuring it in such as way as…  
Lebemmaenui ne Laer ne Tâd Neder Tolgaen en Nelui Andrann.  
The above sentence would read (from my understanding)…  
The Fiftieth of Summer of Two Nine Eighty of the Third Age  
The 50th of Summer of 2980 of the 3rd Age.

* * *

**GENERAL NOTES:**

- Now, I realize that during 2980, Aragorn was busy doing two things. First off, he was busy being Thorongil in both Rohan and Gondor from 2957-2980, and then he was busy in 2980 itself… meeting Arwen in Lothlorien again. HOWEVER, for the purpose of this story, Aragorn has just returned home to Rivendell, having ended his service as Thorongil in the beginning of Winter of 2980 and then, on his way home, met Arwen. This means that Aragorn is now back in Rivendell, having arrived not long before this story (since it is now Summer).

- All Sindarin script in my original draft (which will not appear when read online on FF dot Net) was typed up with the help of the TengScribe program, and a Mode that I input from notes out of David Salo's book and Ruth S. Noel's book (see Texts Used below for more).

- The dates and numbers and such could very well be wrong. I don't claim to know any more than what I've looked up in my books (see Texts Used below for more). So don't kill me if something's off, whether in the numbers and dates or in my use of spoken Sindarin as a whole.

- Legede is an Original Character and he belongs to me. You can use him if you want to in a story, but you have to get my permission first. Thanks!

* * *

**TEXTS USED:**

Noel, Ruth S. The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-earth: A Complete Guide to All Fourteen of the Languages Tolkien Invented. 1980. ISBN: 0-395-29130-5.

Fonstad, Karen Wynn. The Atlas of Middle-Earth. Revised Edition. 1991. ISBN: 0-618-12699-6.

Salo, David. A Gateway to Sindarin: A Grammar of An Elvish Language from J.R.'s _Lord of the Rings._ 2004. ISBN: 0-87480-800-6.

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings. 1994. ISBN: 0-618-26025-0.

Tolkien, J.R.R. Unfinished Tales: The Lost Lore of Middle-earth. 1980. ISBN: 0-345-35711-6.

* * *

**PROGRAMS USED:**(All can be found online)

_Dragonflame  
_Level 2.0  
Copyright 2002-2003 Benjamin Babut & Didier Willis

_Tengscribe  
_Tecindo Tengwaiva – The Tengwar Scribe  
Version 1.1.0  
Copyrith 1998-1999 Måns Björkman

_Sindarin Font  
_Typeface Name: Tengwar Sindarin  
File Size: 53 KB  
Copyright 1998 Daniel Steven Smith


End file.
